Notes of AGM meeting on 4th November 2019 held at 7.30pm at Bramcote Memorial Hall.
22 members present. Apologies from Stan Heptinstall and Cherry Foston. Helene Laanest was in the chair.
1. Matters Arising from AGM 2018
- Golf Course land: no change from last year's update.
The following Reports were presented:-
2. Chairperson’s Report
- Helene thanked Norman and Sheila for their hard work and help over the past 20 years and presented them with garden vouchers as a token of thanks.
- There were 2 committee meetings this year. Sheila Hardy and Norman Clyde-Watson stepped down, Helelne Laanest took over as Chairperson and Dave Woodward as secretary. Unfortunately Dave submitted his resignation from the group in the summer.
- After two unsuccessful grant applications for a new path from Markham Rd, the Ministry of Housing provided the money for this and also for the circular path on AP reserve to be resurfaced plus the replacement of the Thoresby Rd steps.
- A new management plan was produced for 2019-2024 and this can be read here.
- We were again awarded a green flag community award for 2019/2020
- The committee put out a statement about the Bramcote Unity Park (see our website) .
- For the working group Chris Riley will organise trees and bulbs to be planted and the mayor will be invited to attend but the date not yet confirmed.
- Thanks to Geoff Fewkes for maintaining the website, also to Chris Riley for all his help and Jane Hardman for standing in as temporary secretary.
3. Treasurer’s Report
Eric Curtis circulated copies to members present (copy on file).
- There were 46 members last year and there is a balance of £800+ in reserve.
- Seeds were obtained cheaper than expected through BBC.
- New arm bands were purchased.
- Auditing was again free (a bottle of wine given in appreciation).
REMINDER – Membership subscription of £5 is now due. Cheques should be made payable to ‘Friends of Bramcote Ridge’ and passed to the Treasurer, Eric Curtis before the end of the year please.
YOUR SUPPORT IS VALUED & IMPORTANT.
4. Working Sessions
- The number of members attending is still averaging 12 a month.
- In January a big litter pick was undertaken and 14 bags of rubbish collected as part of Broxtowe's Clean and Green campaign.
- The bridle path has been cleared 4 times this year and in Spring the wildflower area by Thoresby Road was dug over and extended.
- Paths have been cleared and maintained and the bench on the Alexandrina site repaired.
- Two cordless hedge cutters were purchased a year ago which makes maintenance of paths much easier.
- New Green Flag signs were put up, litter picking and sign cleaning performed monthly.
John thanked everyone who attends and also Chris Riley for his help and advice.
5. Bird and Butterfly Summaries
- A Lesser Whitethroat was a new species seen in April and Buzzards are becoming a more common site.
- Redwings and Brambling were seen in early October this year.
- Butterfly numbers are generally declining here but this is a national trend. More Common Blues have been seen this year because of the increase in birds-foot trefoil.
Thanks to Jane for her help in monitoring butterflies.
6. Any Other Business
- There were no objections to the present committee members continuing and it was agreed to leave the election of a new secretary to the next committee meeting
- There was some discussion about the path from the bottom of Devil's steps to the concrete steps by Ivy Wood.
- The new management plan shows this to be outside the boundary of our reserve and to conform to insurance requirements we can no longer maintain this path.
- A vote of thanks to the committee was proposed by Norman and unanimously approved.
Geoff Fewkes then spoke about the setting up of the FOBR with himself, Stan Heptinstall and Walter Grauberg. There was an open meeting for local residents in April 1999 at the Rosegrower with 56 people attending. The first meeting of the FOBR was in June 1999 with the first AGM on 1st of November that year when 43 members had joined so FOBR has been going 20 years.
The meeting closed at 8.20 pm followed by special refreshments to celebrate 20 years. A celebration chocolate cake and wine was enjoyed as well as the usual tea, coffee and biscuits.
The next AGM will be 2/11/2020.
The Friends are always looking for extra pairs of hands to help out or to simply support their work, so...
- to find out when the next work session will take place, click here, or
- to find out about becoming a member please contact us here, or
- to discover what goes into managing the sites click here.
